Shadows of Death
by Padfootwolfboy
Summary: "They were finally together and nothing, Sirius knew, could tear them apart now. Not even death…" Can love conquer death? Set post-GoF. War on Voldie. R/S Slash. Please Review.
1. Preface: Dreams

**Author's Note: **This is a darkfic. There's been rather unhappiness in my life as of late so therefore my pretty little puppets of Remus and Sirius get to carry out my depressing fantasies. But, oh! It's all well and good. You know I couldn't torture these two lovelies totally. About my other lovely (and some not-so-lovely writings), such as Secrets of the Heart, yes, I do plan to continue them. I am just taking a break from happy, cheerful, fluffiness. Every life needs a little pain in it, don't you think? Okay, perhaps these two don't deserve pain, but, they're getting some. 

**Pairings: **Remus Lupin and Sirius Black (You were expecting someone else?)

**Rating: **As of now, PG-13 (But then again, I don't know what kids should or shouldn't be reading nowadays…) 

**Summary: **Set after GoF. War Time in the Wizarding World. Remus and Sirius finally were reunited but now because of a sudden tragedy, they are pulled apart again. What will happen? How will one ever get the strength to keep fighting after the loss of the other?     "They were finally together and nothing, Sirius knew, could tear them apart now. _Not even death…_" Can love conquer death? 

**Disclaimer: **Life is ever-becoming more unfair… partly because I do not own these wonderful characters. Neither Sirius nor Remus, sadly, is mine. If they were… well… we'd already be clear on their sexuality from the canon, that's for damn sure! 

_Dreams—Preface _

The kiss was more desperate this time, an act of lust and of love, both combined into a tantalizing weave of tongues intertwined, flush, pink lips on dry, cracked ones, still tasting of remnants of butterbeer and the cherries he had eaten earlier that night. One inhaled deeply as he pulled his mouth away from the other's and moved it to a more sensual place on his neck. Sirius groaned in delight as Remus suckled on the sensitive skin, moving his hands down the smaller man's bare back, feeling ever curve of lean muscle that twined beneath the layer of scarred flesh. He craved for every ounce of skin he could touch, running his hands along his back and arms, into the disheveled tufts of honeyed hair, streaked with a few charming smudges of premature gray. 

Remus lifted his head and smiled at the dark-haired man beneath him. It was a warm, loving smile. Sirius could spend hours—no, days—just soaking in all the details of his face. The soft, amber eyes, glowing contentedly from under two perfectly carved cinnamon eyebrows, the flecks of red, blond and gray adding to the depth and tenderness of his character; his thin, pale lips, though scratched and rough still tempting to him even after all these years; his smooth complexion, now perfected by the adding of the cute crinkles around his eyes and the corners of his mouth. All these features were tied into an unbinding expression of love and hope and life, all radiating down at Sirius as he looked up at the man he loved—more importantly, the man he admired—and had done so for many years now. They were finally together and nothing, Sirius knew, could tear them apart now. _Not even death…_

He inclined his head to connect his lips with Remus's again, in another breath-taking kiss. Only his mouth met what his brain told him was impossible. He felt cold, lifeless skin beneath his lips, rough and taut, and very much not like Remus usually felt. He tired to run his fingers through the silky strands of light hair, only to find that they were stiff with dried sweat and matted together, as if uncombed for weeks. The normally pleasurable weight of Remus's body now felt encompassing, as if he was leaning too heavily on him, pushing him into the bed. His arms lay limply by Sirius's neck and waist, unresponsive to the minute movements he imposed. Finally, summoning up courage, Sirius opened his eyes, prepared to see nothing more then the sensitive texture of Remus's eyes fluttering quietly a few centimeters away, as if he had just fallen asleep. The sight that greeted him chilled him into the marrow of his bones. 

Remus's blank, lifeless amber eyes stared back at him, wide with fear but soft and gentle still with a kind of remorseful glint in them, like as if he were apologizing for some inadequacy of his own. He was dead. His bright life force just shut off in an instant. Sirius jumped back, removing himself from beneath the dead corpse of his once lover, the scenes of a few days earlier flooding back with painful speed into his memory. _Voldemort... The battle... The Cruciatus Curse… Remus pulling him out of the way… thankful one moment that the man he loved was safe and then the next—writhing in agony. _

But then his worst fear was realized, the thing he feared more than reliving the night James and Lily died, more than receiving a Dementor's Kiss. Sirius could still remember the cold, twisted smile spreading over Voldemort's lips as he whispered, _"Avada Kedavra."_ A piercing green light shot through the air, sending the molecules ringing in shock as it whizzed by them. Remus fell before his eyes, giving one last glimpse at Sirius before he landed harshly in the dirt, unmarked but unmistakably dead. 

Everything seemed to move in slow motion then. He heard his voice shouting his name over and over again, in a desperate attempt to raise him again, make him return to him again, as if the anguish and love with which he called his name would somehow become the counter-curse, or perhaps just replace him as the one to have suffered its effects. 

_"Remus! Remus!" the words gasped from his mouth He was unable to move or to say anything else. His heart beat icily in his chest, so frozen it could barely pump the burning blood through his veins. He started to run towards the inert body of his love but a hand fastened around his arm, pulling him away. He could see through the smoke other figures retreating. Death Eaters were burning houses and corpses of the already deceased. Voldemort was standing in the middle of it, the burnt ruins of the small, country town. Remus lied at the base of the charred remains of some sort of building, be it a house or something else. Sirius struggled to reach him but the person who was clamped to his arm wouldn't let him go. They dragged him away, the name still fresh on his lips. "Remus!" He refused to stop calling out until they reached into the darkened depths of the fields. The others counted those that had survived this worse-than-average battle and tended the wounded. Sirius's capture released him and he fell to his knees, a wave of dizziness and nausea over coming him, tears blurring his vision. He let out one last gasp before falling unconsciously to the ground. "Remus…"_

**Author's Note: **Ah… that was fun, no? Well if not fun… Then it at least had everything. A little bit of sex (What can I say? Sex sells. It's a real good story starter), a little bit  of violence, a little bit of melodramatic Sirius… It has everything! Anyway, thanks for reading, but now… Let's play _"The Review Game"_! Here's the rules: I sit here and write more while you review my story(s) so far and tell me if you like them. So, on your mark, get set, GO! 

Next chapter to come shortly.


	2. Chapter One: A Brother and A Soulmate

**Author's Note: **This is basically the first chapter. I only have the one review so far, but then ff.net is being a bit piddly then, isn't it? So I'm not too crushed by the lack or response… ::Sobs loudly but then regains composure:: As I was saying: This is the first chapter. It's short but it's what I have. I'll write the second chapter shortly. Things are going to get a little darker I think, before they get lighter. But then again, what could be worse then the death of poor Remmie? I love Remus! He's my favorite character. ::Sobs and has to go fetch self a hanky:: 

**Pairings: **Remus Lupin and Sirius Black (as always); But there are some other pairings popping up… Hints of: Percy/Penelope, Harry/Draco, Ginny/Tom Riddle a.k.a. "Voldie" (Ew), and then a very possibly Bill Weasley/Sirius (??? Don't ask! I have no clue where my muse comes up with this stuff. I really have decided I'm insane for liking the pairings I do.)  

**Rating: **As of now, PG-13 (But, as I said, how do I know what children should read?) 

**Disclaimer: **I own no Siri… ::wail:: I own no Remmie… ::double wail:: I certainly don't own Bill… (Ooh! That'd be fun…) So if you want to throw rotten tomatoes at someone, throw them at her! ::Points to J.K. Rowling:: Unless, of course,  it is concerning the plot line… ::Ducks as some random peasant throws tomato::  Because that—um—_is_ mine. ::Dodges a flying cucumber:: Hey! I said "tomatoes" there, mister! Listen, why don't ya?!?!?! 

A Brother and A Soulmate 

Sirius sat up with a jolt. He heaved the object, which he assumed to be Remus's rigid corpse, off him. His pillow flew across the small room of the tent and hit the far fall, landing, plump, on the ground. His chest was heaving, lungs gasping for breath. The name of "Remus" still seemed to hang in the air, like he had been screaming it, all over again, just like he did those few nights back. In an instant he realized what was going on. He was dreaming again. He was reliving the death of the person he loved more than anything in the world. He let out the breath he realized he was holding and wiped his sweaty brow with the back of his hand. The emptiness and despair filled the void once more where his heart used to be. Just then, another person entered the room. 

"Sirius?" a quiet, calm male voice asked. The figure was carrying his wand, a dim light shone from it, illuminating him as Sirius sat restlessly in a jumble of covers on his cot, his pillow laying at the other corner of the room. On seeing this, the man moved closer to him. He lowered himself onto his makeshift bed, placing a caring palm on his hand. "Are you okay?" he asked sensitively, massaging his tense hand in a sympathetic way.

Sirius didn't need to see his face. He knew who it was by the sound of his voice. "I'm all right, Bill," he sighed, removing his limb from the younger man's reach. He still couldn't stand to be touched by anyone who wasn't…. _him._ He could sense more than see through the gloom the disbelief printed on his friend's face. "Just a bad dream, really," he tried to convince him. 

Bill elevated his wand so that Sirius could see his face. The cool, clever blue eyes and as well as the bright red hair were his family's key traits, but also had inherited Molly's look of motherly concern. It seemed out of place almost right now, with his long fiery hair drifting haphazardly over his neck and shoulders, his dragon tooth earring reflecting the light. He scrutinized Sirius to see if he was telling the truth. 

"Honestly," the man in question replied to the look candidly, rising up his palms in defense. "Just a bad dream. I swear it." Bill narrowed one icy blue eye at him. "Don't look at me like that, young man…" Sirius warned him, drawing a small smirk from the other. "I'm still nine years your senior. You owe me creditability." He put his hands down, smiling as much as he would ever smile since that night.  

Bill sighed and looked about the room. "You were yelling his name, you know?" he told the older man, warily gazing at how he would respond at the mention of his dead lover. 

"I know…" he whispered almost inaudibly. 

 "Very loudly. Like you were reliving it all over again." Sirius winced at the mentioning of this. Bill hesitated and then inquired carefully, "Were you?"

Sirius looked away. "What does it matter?" he asked desolately. 

"It matters," Bill said gently, placing his hand delicately to Sirius's scratchy, unshaven cheek, "to me." 

Sirius jerked away from the contact and pressed his back into the wall, putting space between the eldest Weasley brother and him while also sending a message. He wasn't ready to be touched yet. 

His eyelids hung over his dark gray eyes as if he was nearly asleep, but Bill knew this to be untrue. He was merely watching him, closely. He shrugged, getting off the slender cot, and walked over to where the white pillow lay in a lump. He levitated it with his wand, which was still lit at one end, dusted it off with his free hand, and sent it through the air back to its owner. He lifted the wand to show his face again and smiled kindly at Sirius. He couldn't see the older man's reaction but he managed to discern a muted, "Thank you," through the ruffling of covers as he slid back into bed. He walked towards the door, intent on going back to his own quarters, which was compiled of just the couch since he had given up his bed in order for Sirius to sleep there, as it was that he couldn't rest in the room that he and Remus had once shared. A sudden thought flickered in his mind and he stopped at the tiny doorway to the small wizarding tent chamber. 

"Sirius?" he questioned solemnly. A soft grunt was all he got in response. "I know Dumbledore said not to push you, that you'd be ready to talk about it in time, but I am your friend. I care about you," he said in his soothing baritone voice. "A lot more than you think," he added quietly. He would have stopped to ponder all the lovely ways he could think of to get Sirius's mind of his darling Remus, none of them having to do with much talking, but he continued anyway, knowing that this wasn't the time. "I know you think I'm young and that I wouldn't understand, but I would. I've been through a lot already. Maybe," he shrugged lightly, half meaning his comment and half not, "you just don't want to trust someone under thirty. I don't know. All I know is, I'm here for you when you need me. I want to help you anyway you can. Just… just remember that." With that, he whispered "nox" and his wand went out, leaving Sirius in the dark and with a lot to think about.

Bill had been through a lot in his life already. The twenty-eight-year-old had just come out to his family last year. Much to the chagrin of his mother, he told her and the rest of the then only seven other Weasleys (Percy had gone mad and was the first to abandoned his life and his fiancé, Penelope, to join Voldemort on the side of evil. His quest for power had led him to dangerous ends.) that he liked boys as much as he liked girls. He wanted to bring his then boyfriend at the time over to dinner. Most of the family got over it and accepted it, except for young Ginny. She couldn't face her brother's open bisexuality, not on top of already dealing with the new revelation of her long time crush's homosexuality and the rampant sex stories spreading about Hogwarts of him and Draco Malfoy.  Sirius had to admit to himself though, they did make a cute couple, especially when they fought. She ran away from home and now was another unfortunate victim of the Dark Lord. Obviously her year with Tom Riddle when she was twelve left more of a mark then originally everyone thought. She was determined to rule along side him, a man a good forty years older than her, as his Dark Lady. The thought of the two of them just disgusted Sirius to no ends. Then there was the terrible tragic loss, especially to Bill, not to mention the rest of the Weasley clan, of Charlie Weasley. He had died heroically trying to stop Voldemort from using dragons against a Scottish city. Bill had been the closest brother to him and so took the news the hardest. 

_Yes_, Sirius thought, _Bill has been through a lot in his life. But he thinks a nice smile and a few sympathetic words will make everything all better. How can he possibly understand what it is like to loose a brother _and_ a soulmate?_    

**Author's Note: **Pointless to ask, I will do so anyways… review maybes? Pwease? ::Bats eyelashes:: Fer me? ::Jumps out of the way as several tomatoes are thrown:: Okay, okay! Not for me then! Not for me! For them? ::Points to a very pretty Sirius and Bill (He has to be pretty. He has long hair and his ear pierced):: 

Please review! Chapter Two will be up shortly. Promise, will try to make it longer. Ta-ta! 


	3. Chapter Two: Fathers, Sons, and Boyfrien...

**Author's Note: **Chapter Two here! See, I told you that it would be up quick. _And!_ It's longer than the first chapter. Yay! It's not the best chapter and a little boring but it gives you an idea of what life is like on the war front. ::Starts sing, "War! Ugh! Good God, y'all!" Realizes people are staring:: Oops. Sorrie. Anyways, it just lays some basic information of daily life. Oh and if Harry's character seems a little off, there is a reason for it. What is it? It's that: I _suck_ at writing Harry. I'll leave him to JKR, thankee very much. Also, he has gone through a lot and he is seventeen now in this time frame. A lot can change between fourteen and seventeen. Like one's sexual preference… ::Whispers:: _I'm sure he was just suppressing all those tendencies those first four years…_

**Pairings: **Remus and Sirius (Uh—_hello!_) Mentionings of: Draco/Harry and Ron/Hermoine 

**Rating: **As of now, PG-13  (This chapter actually fits into the PG rating. Wow.)

**Disclaimer: **::Pouts:: _My_ Remus and Sirius! ::Grabs Remus and Sirius as JKR tries to pull them away, claiming they're hers:: _My Remus and Sirius!_ ::JKR manages to finally free them as upset fangirl pouts:: Fine! They're _her_ Remus and Sirius. ::Whimpers::     

_Fathers, Sons, and Boyfriends—Oh My!_

Sirius awoke again when it was morning. A black dawn greeted him as he struggled to get up, find the will to get on with the day, and finally push himself out of bed. He staggered down the narrow staircase of the tent, and, when finding that the rest of its occupants were already out and about for the day, he grabbed his walking stick and headed out to find some solace before attending a strategic planning meeting at the main tent where Dumbledore stayed. 

Dark rain clouds covered the field they resided in for the time being. They choked out all the deathly, spirit-rising rays of the sun, leaving the ground swathed in shadows and keeping the air a crisp, tingling cold. A biting wind blew in sudden and Sirius pulled his cloak around him a little tighter, to keep the chill out. He smiled bitterly to himself, as he looked up into the thick mass of dark, swirling gray that masked the sky, pleased that nature had begun to agree with him and take on such a dark, cynical outlook. 

The clouds had obviously already leaked some rain before he had arose because his boots left footprints in the moody ground, releasing from the dirt with a _smuck_ each time he took a step. His cane, unfortunately, found a peculiar soft spot and decided to trap itself in the layers of wet earth. Sirius stumbled violently as he found that it would take more than just the normal amount of muscle to lift the twisted rod. The unexpected pull of his muscles flared his knee injury again and he gasped out in pain, reflexively grabbing for his wounded joint but still not letting go of the stick. The uncoordinated actions did not permit his body to stay erect as it was and so he fell roughly in the mud. He shouted out in surprise as his shoulder connected with the ground. He let out a stifled obscenity and recollected his bearings.  Fortunately, the force of the fall pulled his cane loose. Unfortunately, it had also direct some attention his way. He saw someone begin to approach him after exiting a tent nearby, and without looking who it really was, he began to try to pull himself upward, using just his arms a the cane. The task was a bit more trying on his already sore muscles then he wanted but he did eventually manage to right himself. 

By this time though, the person had spotted him—if they hadn't already before—and was coming to his aid. He was about to brush them off and tell them very sternly that he didn't need to be babysat all the time when he realized who it was. 

"Are you all right, Sirius?"

He smiled gently at the young man's care for him and gave him a reassuring nod, while tussling his messy black hair. "I'm all right, Harry. Had a bit of a spill is all. Not quite used to walking with this stick yet." He lifted the pole in question and waved it around in the air to demonstrate his point. "I'm getting better at it though." He grinned sadly at him. 

"That's good," his godson replied cheerily, happy to see that his godfather was at least coming out of him room now. He smiled back, though only with as much gusto as Sirius. 

Sirius looked at the man, for really he wasn't a boy anymore. He was seventeen now and should have started his last year at Hogwarts last month in September, but unfortunately the War didn't allow time for schoolwork. Harry was bright though. He could catch up easily. The affects the battles had on his schoolwork weren't what usually worried Sirius. His godson had seen lots so terrible things already in his young life. There was a sparkle in those bright green eyes, still categorically framed by a pair of wire-rimmed glasses, that just didn't shine as bright anymore. In fact the only times Sirius ever saw it was when Harry truly smiled, which was usually only around his _charming_ bleach-hair blond boyfriend. Sirius would be fine with putting up with their little lover's skirmishes as long as they made Harry smile. 

"So," Sirius began, happy to be able to change the subject away from himself for once, "where were you?" He had noticed Harry seemed a little flushed when he came out of the tent. 

"Oh," he chuckled nervously, a blush creeping in along those pale cheeks. He casted his eyes downward and grin mischievously to himself. "I was off visiting Draco in the hospital tent," he murmured so that Sirius had to strain his ear to hear him. 

It was pretty clear to him from Harry's actions, and also from remembering what it was like to be a seventeen-year-old boy, what had happened. He grinned inwardly, glad to know that he was still taking an interesting in "normal," everyday things, like kissing, but thought it not very good parenting to let Harry know how he felt. "Oh?" he responded, trying hard to give Harry a strict look and keep the smile from appearing on his lips and ruining his old guise. "And what did you talk about?"

Harry turned his gaze back to the ground and answered with a bit of a smirk and suppressed chuckle, "Oh, not much…" He glanced up at Sirius. An old twinkle was blazing in his dusty gray eyes, much like the one he used to get when he would make a suggestive comment to Remus and enjoyed watching Remus tried to squirm out of it from embarrassment. He saw him abruptly try to smother the roguish grin that was trying to take over his mouth. Harry knew that Sirius wanted to try to give him the right impression of being reprimanding but he knew his godfather too well. Remus was always the parental one and Sirius was the one who smiled impishly all through the conversation, completely enjoying the fact that his godson was taking after his father so well. The memory of Remus, also a father to him in many ways, saddened Harry but he smiled somberly at remembering all the good times. He turned his attention back to the matter at hand and trying to get away with sneaking kisses from his boyfriend. 

" 'Not much…' " Sirius was repeating over and over again in a sort of mantra, trying to figure out a good way to chide Harry for breaking rules in the hospital tent, knowing full well that when he was younger be broke those rules and many more, visiting Remus in the hospital wing after nights of the full moon or when certain pranks went awry. The conscious thought of Remus made his blood boil again, his heart clench with a frigid chill, the air stop in his lungs. Harry must of have him gasp suddenly and Sirius had to quickly blink back the tears that were forming in his eyes. He looked down at the slightly shorter, dark-haired man. "I was just thinking…" he started to explain in a meek voice. He didn't need to continue. Harry knew what he was going to say.

"I know," he said comfortingly, placing a calloused hand on his arm. "I was just thinking of him too." He smiled sympathetically at Sirius. 

The older of the two sighed. "You know, he was so much better at this than I. He could explain things so that you understood but he didn't make you feel bad, like you couldn't hate him or anything." Sirius sighed deeply again. "He would of made a great dad…" He drifted off and looked away from Harry.

"He _did_ make a great dad," he replied encouragingly. "And so do _you._" Sirius looked down at him quizzically. "Don't be so hard on yourself." His godfather quickly pulled the messy-haired boy into a tight embrace and let him go before anyone could see and embarrass Harry. 

The walked along is silence for a while, making there way slowing around the outskirts of the small, situated camp. "You know something?" Harry asked suddenly after a good while of comfortable silence, giving them both some time to think.

"I don't know a great many things, Harry," Sirius replied sardonically, not looking over to see the scowl on his godson's face. He knew it was there and smirked at bit at it. 

"_As I was saying…_ I just realized something. I've been meaning to tell you it for a while now," Harry continued, ignoring Sirius's blatant, somewhat self-imposed bitterness. 

"How can you've been meaning to tell me for a while when you've only just realized it?" Sirius pondered aloud as they rounded a tent at the far end of the camp. 

"Well, okay, I realized it a while back but I couldn't tell you then. I had to go visit Draco." 

"Oh, I see. You're _boyfriend_ is more important than your godfather?" Sirius smirked down at him. 

Harry stared at him incredibly. "Sirius, I'm a seventeen-year-old wizard. _Of course my boyfriend is more important!_" Sirius laughed aloud at this plain statement of teenager-dom. And he was worried that Harry wouldn't be a normal adolescent… 

"Oh, forgive me for assuming you actually _cared_ about your family," Sirius responded sarcastically. "I didn't know your _boyfriend_ was prioritized over me." 

Harry chuckled and hit him playfully in the arm. "You know I care about you. And Draco isn't my boyfriend. We're just—"

"What?" Sirius interrupted him. "Really good friends?" He elevated his eyebrows doubtfully. 

"Well, no. It's just… Well we haven't actually said that we were dating. We haven't even been out on a real date or anything. There' s just a lot of arguing then…" He stopped himself just before he was about to say, "kissing." There were just still some things that he couldn't tell even a cool guy like Sirius about. Luckily, he understood.

"Ah. I got'cha. Well, maybe setting bounds and labeling relationships isn't the best thing for you guys right now—except for the setting bounds thing, of course. You two should have lots of bounds." He eyed Harry to tell him that he was still kidding him but expected that he knew that he would want him to not go too far with Draco too soon. He shrugged and continued. "I think you should just be with the people who make you happy. We don't know what's going to happen from day to day. We need to just appreciate the time we have with the people we care about."  He smiled at Harry.

"Thanks, Sirius. That's really sweet." Harry felt somewhat comforted by the relationship advice Sirius had just given him. He liked coming to his godfather for advice. He was really one of the only adult males he had that he could go to. The thought reminded him of the topic he wanted to talk about. "Speaking of that, that thing I wanted to tell you…"

"Oh right. Right!" Sirius stopped and faced him. "I'm all ears." 

Harry nervously shifted his weight from foot to foot before finally looking at Sirius. "Okay, you know when you were talking about being a good father?"

"Yes?"

"Well, I had this dream about a month ago. It was very strange. It was like I could get my dad back—like he would be alive again and I could live with him and it would just be like he had been away for a very long time—but in order to that, I would have to give up you and Remus, like I could never of had you at all in my life. Like you never existed. I never met you or something. And I had to decide between this." 

He paused here and gathered the expression of Sirius's face. It was clear he was a bit confused where he was going with this, but from the look off sadness and hurt, he thought Harry was going to say that Sirius was a great dad to him, but he still wanted his dad back, not that he could blame him. Harry continued. 

"Well, anyway, the dream ended before I had to choose but it got me thinking. If there were some way I could get my dad back, but I had to loose you and Remus to do so, what would I do?" This was the part where Sirius braced himself for being told that he could never replace the image Harry had of James as his father. _Not that he should_, Sirius reminded himself sternly when he still found himself wishing that Harry might. 

"Well, I decided that I wouldn't want to get my dad back then, if it meant giving up you two. You have been really great to me and you're more of a family then I could ever hope for. I never knew my dad. I've been told he was a really great guy." Sirius nodded vigorously in agreement but stayed silent to let Harry finish. "I feel it too, that he was really great. I know it. It's just that I never met him. I don't know that if I never met you and Remus and my dad came back now, that I would be as happy. I wouldn't want to give up my life for a life I don't even know. I've sort of always thought I wished that—and would wish that—because I never knew my parents. But I don't anymore.  You and Remus have been so great so I don't wish that anymore." 

He stopped there and hugged his godfather, who was at the point of shocked silence, tears beginning to form in his eyes. Harry sensed his uncomfortableness with the endearing action and words, and his startle at them. He smiled and continued to hug him until he felt Sirius recover and hug him back. 

Sirius pushed him away and sniffed melodramatically. "Ah," he fawned and nudged Harry gently on the chin. "You, kid. I love you too." He kissed Harry loudly at the forehead, right on his scar, with much mortification and protesting from his godson. He chuckled when Harry then passionately looked around to see if anyone had seen. 

"Oh calm down. No one saw," Sirius assured him as Harry peered around the same tent for a third time.

"I'm just making sure," he replied, still checking and then looking around the other side. Sirius laughed loudly again. Harry finally had scoped out the area enough and decided that the coast had been indeed safe like Sirius had said. "Okay," he told the older one breathlessly, jogging back to him. "No on there."

"See? What did I tell you?" Sirius smirked, ruffling Harry's hair. The boy pulled his head out of reach and smiled. "Now then," Sirius continued. "Why don't you go back to the hospital tent and find your little _'really good friend'_ and have some fun? I'm stick of this mushy stuff!" He grinned broadly at him. 

"Sirius," Harry chided. "That's not what you're supposed to tell a teenager! Go 'have fun…' " Already, though, he was backing away, towards the rest of the camp.

"Oh well," he sighed, watching Harry creep backwards. "You know more about parenting right now than I do. Why don't you give yourself a little lecture when you're done and we'll call it even?"

"Sirius…" Harry chuckled, still inching away. 

Sirius made little shooing actions with his hands. "Oh! And tell Ron and Hermoine they might as well start something too!" He yelled as Harry was beginning to turn and walk away. "It's about time they started something!" Harry laughed and jogged out of view, no doubt going to see that particular bleached blond cynic. 

Sirius chuckled to himself at his godson's antics—and at his own—feeling for once, in many days, actually rather pleasant. He turned to start walking when he was reminded of why he had originally started walking away this direction as a sharp complaint came from his knee. "Oh right…" he muttered to himself, no longer feeling as cheery as he did a minute ago. "I got to see Snape about the pain-killing potion." With that, he limped off in the direction of Severus Snape's tent.    

**Author's Note: **Ahh. So was that so painful to read? I hope not. I know it got a little boring. I'm not saying it will get better but it might. If you REVIEW it might… Hint hint. Just press the little "Go" button down there in the left-hand corner of the screen. You know… that thingie… down there… ::Points down:: Anyways… not sure how many chapters this will have. Possibly around three more. Um… shoo! Review! Pwease? I'll give you a cookie? ::Holds out carrot and cinnamon flavored peanut butter cookie:: Not working, huh? If you don't, I'll continue to sing. ::Continues the song from before the chapter, "What is it good for? Absolutely nothing! War!"::  


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